Seco Creek Farm

We are just a few days away from the beginning of
breeding season at Seco Creek Farm. This is always an
exciting time! My thoughts are full of dreams of
superstar kids. We have been keeping track of the does'
estrus cycles for a couple of months so that we can
move them in with the appropriate buck when the time is
right. If everything goes as planned, Emma, Tamryn,
Agnes, Bandera, and Sandy will have kids in February.
Most of our junior does, Concan, Coy, Coconut Pie,
Sylvia, and Terese will be bred in November for April
kids. Thirty days after we think they have bred, we
will take a blood sample from each doe, label it, and
send it off to a lab for pregnancy testing. Within a
week of taking the sample we have our results!

Speaking of breeding...I will be taking an articicial
insemination (AI) class in the middle of September. I
have also acquired a semen tank! So, it looks like I
will be trying my hand at AI. Now all I need to do is
by some equipment and start shopping for semen.

Well...apparently it's been a really long time since my
last blog entry. I promise I'll to do better this year.

It's kidding season at Seco Creek Farm. This is the
time of year that all of our does have their babies,
which means we have fresh goat milk! If you follow us
on facebook you've seen me post about being at the barn
all day because a certain goat was in labor. I know
some of you are probably thinking, "Why is she out at
the barn all day? Haven't goats been having babies by
themselves for thousands of years?" Let me give you a
glimpse into "kidding day" at the farm.

When it is breeding time we put an individual doe in
the pen with a buck and watch them closely. We usually
know when they are bred, which means we have an exact
due date. A doe can kid five days before or after her
due date and still fall in the normal range. As time
approaches her due date we begin to look for signs of
approaching labor. The doe's udder will fill up, she
will have loose ligaments on either side of her tail.
She may even want to hang out in the barn or stay by
herself when she is really close.

As part of our herd health program, we attend all
births at the farm. When we start to see signs of labor
we watch the doe very closely. We begin with checks
every couple of hours, then move to hourly and even
thirty minute checks. Once we start to see that a doe
is pushing or we see the amniotic sac, we stay with
her. For the most part we leave the doe alone and just
monitor the birth. We note the time that she starts
pushing and the time the amniotic sac breaks. If the
labor seems to be taking a long time, or the doe seems
to be having trouble I put on my exam glove, lube up,
and check. I am checking to see if the kid is in the
proper position. I want to feel two front feet and a
head. If I don't I may need to reposition the kid for
delivery.

Assuming everything is fine, I hang back with my towels
and wait to catch kids! Twins are normal for goats but
it is not uncommom to have a single or triplets. We
actually had a nice set of triplets born this morning!
As the kids are born I dry them off, wrap them in a
towel and set them aside. Once everyone is out the doe
is given some water, hay, and grain and left alone to
relax a little until she passes her placenta.

While this is happening the kids are taken to the house
and put in a very large rubbermaid type container. Each
kid is given a temporary collar with their dam's name
and their birth number. For example (Angie 1) (Angie 2)
& (Angie 3). We need to know the birth order for
tatooing purposes. We weigh each kid, give them a
vitamin E capsule, a little dab of probias, and a BoSe
(vitamin E and Selenium) injection. We also clamp their
naval cord and spray the cord and their hooves with
iodine. Each kid is bottle-fed their first colostrum
and then they take a nap.

At this point it is time to go back out to the barn to
check on the doe. We check to see if she has passed her
placenta. If she doesn't do this with the first few
hours after delivery we consider giving her an
injection of oxytocin to speed up the process. Milking
her can help move things along, so we usually milk her
for the first time at this point. Once she is done we
usually turn the doe back into the pen with the other
does. They are more relaxed when they are with their
friends.

The colostrum gets taken back to the house where it is
strained and heat treated. The new kids will be
bottle-fed four to five times the first day, then four
times a day for the first week and a half. Keep in mind
that all of this is going on while I have three year
old, two year old, and three month old human boys to
care for. I can only hope that kiddings happen on days
that my husband will be home from work! ;)

We have been working hard since last weekend building a
new milk parlor in our barn. This room is just one of
the many steps we need to take to get our Grade A
permit. We now have a closed in room with a small
window unit where we milk our goats. The girls come in
from the pasture and go into a holding pen before being
milked. One at a time they go in one door and jump up
on the milk stand, where they find a feed trough with
grain waiting on them. We clean the goat's udder then
milk a couple of squirts from each teat into a small
can called a strip cup. This is done so that we can
check the milk to make sure it is perfect before we
start milking. Once we have finished milking we dip
each teat in a solution that helps prevent bacteria
from getting in the teat and helps prevent infection.
The goat then jumps off the milk stand and exits the
milk parlor through a different door, into a "loafing
pen." While in the loafing pen they get to relax and
eat some alfalfa pellets while waiting on the other
girls to be milked.
Next on the construction list is a milk processing
room. Keep following our blog to see our construction
updates!

We had a very busy weekend here at Seco Creek Farm.
Besides all of the daily goat related chores and
activities, which included trimming hooves, we planted
a 35' by 50' vegetable garden! My muscles are sure
paying for it today. We spent last week preparing the
soil, discing and tilling, and making rows. Cooper, who
is two and a half, spent his time running up and down
the rows with the occasional tumble, causing Grandpa
and me to fix it. He had a blast though so I really
didn't mind!
We planted greenbeans, yellow wax beans, lima beans,
black eyed peas, purple hull peas, bell peppers (red,
orange, and green), jalapenos, eggplant, yellow squash,
zucchini, cucumber, watermelon, canteloupe, and tomato
(homestead, roma, cherry, and yellow). I still need to
plant some okra, but I think we are all set...and I
will be canning a lot during the summer! I guess I'd
better learn how to do that! We also have a container
garden with oregano, basil, thyme, parsley, and
rosemary! Let the weeding begin!